This is a record of my journey as a Muslim. I used to be Catholic and belonged to a missionary organisation. After my conversion, I sat on the board of a Muslim converts' organisation and specialised in da'wah programmes, convert management, interfaith issues and apostasy cases. I am an initiate of a Sufi order. As such, the articles and writings tend to cover these areas.
All the Arabic and graphics could not have been done without the help of my wife, Zafirah.

Monday, 7 May 2012

The Last Living Companion of the Prophet (s.a.w.)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ
ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following
is adapted from The Blessed Tree. This is a
meditation on the themes of love of the Prophet (s.a.w.), veneration of holy sites, grace and symbolism. This film tells the story of the meeting
between the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.)
and a Christian monk named Bahira (r.a.).
The meeting happened in the shade of a
tree.

Fourteen
hundred years later that same tree was discovered still alive in the northern
deserts of Jordan. The only tree alive
in hundreds of square miles of emptiness. This tree is a link to the life of the Prophet
(s.a.w.) and a place of pilgrimage
today.

Quotes from the Film:

“In this place, we pray to God to make our
hearts containers of the love of the Prophet
(s.a.w.).” - Shaykh
Dr. Muhammad Sa‘id Ramadan al-Buti

“The Prophet
(s.a.w.) sitting
under this tree and its reacting to the Prophet
(s.a.w.) makes the
tree the only living terrestrial witness to the Prophet (s.a.w.), what we
would call in Arabic, a swahabi.” - H.R.H.
Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad

“This tree was blessed with the touch of the
Messenger of God (s.a.w.).” - Shaykh al-Habib Ali al-Jifri

“That thing that deserves to be loved most is
that which brings forth from the depths of our spirits the recollection of the
Divine Name. The title of the Holy
Prophet of Islam (s.a.w.) is Habib Allah, the Beloved of God. This hub,
this love for the Prophet (s.a.w.) could be described as the great
transformative emotion of Islam.” - Abdal Hakim Murad

“You have to be able to apply a symbol in a
wise way, from one domain of reality to another. There is, in a sense, a vertical dimension
that goes through our heart vertically through our head and up to Heaven. The line of transcendence, this is the inner
tree. The roots of it are actually the
roots of the Divine Reality in our hearts. For most human beings this tree has dried up
because they are not aware of its roots. It is virtually there but not actually; and
the spiritual life means the reviving of this tree within us by sinking the
roots of the Divine once again in our hearts.” - Prof. Seyyed Hossein Nasr